With the aim of combating economic sabotage and related crimes by affiliates of Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the Addis Ababa City Administration has graduated over 27,000 civilian crime informants.
The youths graduated after getting basic trainings are said will closely work with Addis Ababa City Police and other security agencies as informants in the fight of Ethiopian Government against economic sabotage and other crimes. This is indicated at the graduation ceremony at the Addis Ababa Stadium on Thursday, according to the state media Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporations. The 27,000 plus civilians have taken basic police training, according to the report.
From hording iron bars, other construction inputs and major consumer goods, dozens of traders affiliated with the TPLF have been accused of engaging in economic sabotage since Ethiopian Government has launched an offensive military attack in response to the aggression of TPLF militias, who killed Ethiopian soldiers invading national defense force base last November.
Reports show that Government security apparatuses including the police, have been capturing illegal weapons’ traffickers and criminals including some associated with the terrorist group- TPLF. As the newly elected Government of is set to commence operation in early October, currently the Government of Ethiopia is tightening its security to foil any attempt targeted to jeopardize the peaceful transition of the country.
From popular political unrest to stable Government formation
TPLF, which was an ethnically organized political party in Ethiopia claiming that it represents some 6% of Ethiopia’s 110 million total population, was on power since May 1991 as dominant party un the ruling coalition – Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) until April 2018.
Meanwhile following the popular political protest against EPRDF’s dictatorial regime of close to three decades, the leader of the coalition and Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn was forced to resign in April 2018.
Then the coalition elected Abiy Ahmed as its new leader and Prime Minister of Ethiopia with the majority vote to the surprise of TPLF, whose leaders quickly realized their loss of political and economic dominance in Ethiopia after 27 years.
That has led TPLF to act as an opposition party within the ruling party, which ultimately led the former rebel group to oppose all moves and decisions of the Government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Finally, violating the previous decision of EPRDF, TPLF leaders have refused the transformation of the four political parties ruling coalition into a single party by brining the neglected five political parties who have been in charge of their regions as associates of EPRDF.
Even though TPLF refused to be aboard, Prosperity Party is established with the chairmanship of Abiy Ahmed getting certificate to run for the last June general election in which it has secured votes to rule Ethiopia for the coming five years.
The growing tension between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the former rebels has finally led the TPLF to build over 250,000 militias from Tigray ethnic group and attack Ethiopia’s military base found in Tigray Region – the strong hold of TPLF – on November 4, 2020.
A TPLF official latter admitted that it has launched the attack in an attempt to take over heavy artilleries of the country, which used represent over 70% of the total armament of Ethiopia, and advance to Addis Ababa to overthrow the Government of Abiy Ahmed.
Meanwhile to the contrary Ethiopian national defense force along with the support from the neighboring Eritrean army, has managed to defeat and TPLF militias within one month by liberating most of the towns and cities in Tigray region.
However, the attempt of the Government of Ethiopia, which latter designated TPLF as a terrorist group, to restore basic infrastructures and services as well as deliver humanitarian aid was not saucerful, mainly because TPLF has turned the war into a gorilla fighting using civilians as human shield.
This and the international pressure have forced the Ethiopian Government to withdraw its troops from Tigray Region after spending over 100 billion Birr (some $2.2 billion) on rebuilding the Region during the first eight months of the war.
At the end of June, the Government has announced withdrawing its troops from the Tigray Region declaring a unilateral ceasefire that allows the farmers in the region to be engaged in farming activities using the rainy season as an opportunity. But refusing to stop the war TPLF has continued its military operation reorganizing itself and invaded the neighboring regions of Ethiopia primarily Amhara and Afar Regions.
It is during these ten months of battle that TPLF and its affiliate business people were accused of engaging in economic sabotages and other crimes that attempt to destabilize Ethiopia in the long term.
Such crimes have now led the Addis Ababa City Administration to deploy over 27,000 crime informants, who can tip information to the police and security forces whenever they suspect someone of engaging in such sabotages and related crimes in any corner of the capital.